Sen. John Hickenlooper spent $41 million to win Colorado’s Senate seat in 2020. He currently has $3.6 million in his campaign account. That arithmetic problem explains why Democratic Party operatives spent three months this fall trying to pressure state Sen. Julie Gonzales out of challenging him in the June 30, 2026 primary.
The pressure campaign failed. Gonzales announced her candidacy December 8, setting up a generational collision between a 73-year-old establishment Democrat and a 42-year-old progressive who chairs the state Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Denver Post reported December 9 that party operatives mounted a coordinated effort between September and November to dissuade Gonzales from running. Chris Rork, director of the Democratic Senate Campaign Fund and a former Hickenlooper regional director, called consultant Michael Whitehorn in late November. Whitehorn’s firm had signed on to support Gonzales’s campaign.
During the call, Whitehorn said Rork told him it wasn’t too late to avoid being blacklisted for working on a campaign they were “going to lose anyway.” Rork allegedly offered a “guarantee” of work on next year’s Democratic “coordinated campaign” supporting the party’s top candidates. Those contracts could be worth $3,000 to $15,000 monthly, Whitehorn told the Denver Post.
Rork also suggested Gonzales pursue a future mayoral campaign instead, though he didn’t provide timing details. At an October 2 meeting, Rork told Gonzales she was “absolutely guaranteed” not to win the primary.
The pressure campaign extended beyond phone calls. Someone registered multiple website domains in September—julieforcolorado.co and variations—that redirected to Hickenlooper’s campaign site. Google searches for Gonzales returned paid advertisements for Hickenlooper. Text message polls testing both candidates went to Colorado voters. A former Hickenlooper chief of staff texted consultants urging Gonzales to reconsider.
The Colorado Democratic Party responded that Rork spoke “in a private capacity as a friend” and the party remains “neutral in primaries.” That neutrality claim doesn’t square with a Democratic Senate Campaign Fund director coordinating pressure against a challenger three months before she announces.
The establishment’s panic makes financial sense. Federal Election Commission disclosures show Hickenlooper entered October 2025 with $3.6 million cash on hand after raising $6.5 million since winning his seat in 2020. His 2020 race against Republican Cory Gardner cost $41 million in campaign spending alone. The Colorado Sun reported total spending between both campaigns and allied super PACs reached $89 million.
Hickenlooper spent $13.3 million just on television advertising in the July-September 2020 quarter. His current war chest wouldn’t even cover his 2020 TV ad budget.
Sen. Michael Bennet’s 2022 reelection—considered “safe Democratic” against first-time candidate Joe O’Dea—still required $22 million in campaign spending plus $14 million from Democratic super PACs. Colorado Newsline reported Bennet faced a weak opponent who raised just $6.5 million, $2 million of it self-funded, while national Republicans essentially abandoned Colorado. Total spending reached $46 million.
Hickenlooper’s 2020 race was far more competitive. The Colorado Sun reported he raised $43.5 million total and spent $41 million. Gardner raised $29.1 million. The contest ranked ninth nationally when only candidate fundraising was considered, tenth when outside spending was included.
Now Hickenlooper enters a primary with $3.6 million against a challenger who could potentially raise millions through ActBlue if she replicates the fundraising model proven viable in Colorado this year.
Eileen Laubacher, a retired Navy Rear Admiral challenging Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, raised $4.4 million by September 30, 2025—just five months after announcing in May. Her campaign reported to the FEC that her first 54 days brought $1.9 million from 72,500 contributions averaging $26, nearly all under $100.
Colorado Newsline reported Laubacher’s first quarter total topped Adam Frisch’s previous Colorado record of $1.75 million. In the third quarter, she raised $2.5 million—22 times more than Boebert. Federal Election Commission disclosures show the vast majority came from individual donors through ActBlue, with just $5,000 from political committees.
Laubacher raised more than all non-incumbent House candidates nationwide in the 2026 cycle, according to Colorado Politics. She’s running in Colorado’s reddest district—R+13 on the Cook Political Report scale—as a political unknown with no Colorado roots.
If an unknown retired admiral can raise $4.4 million in five months through ActBlue in a deep-red district, a sitting state senator with a progressive legislative record can potentially match that in a Democratic primary where the base skews left.
Gonzales brings structural advantages Laubacher lacked. She represents Denver’s District 34, chairs the Judiciary Committee, and has a progressive legislative record on abortion rights, voting rights, housing, and death penalty repeal. Colorado Newsline reported she worked on Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and won her 2018 state Senate race with endorsements from the Working Families Party and Denver Democratic Socialists of America.
Her campaign positioning directly targets Hickenlooper’s vulnerabilities. She announced with criticism of his voting record on Trump cabinet nominees. Colorado Sun reported Hickenlooper voted to confirm 10 Trump nominees during his first term—more than nearly any other Democratic senator. Gonzales called those votes “disqualifying.”
Her campaign message—”no corporate PACs, no backroom deals”—contrasts with Hickenlooper’s fundraising history. OpenSecrets data shows between 2019 and 2024, 58% of his campaign funds came from large contributions over $200, with just 34% from small donors under $200. His top contributor was Google Inc. at $242,759. His 2020 campaign received the maximum $2,800 from multiple billionaires including members of the Ziff family, the Pritzker family, and architect Jon Stryker.
The generational contrast in campaign models amplifies Hickenlooper’s disadvantage. His 2020 campaign spent $13.3 million on television advertising in a single quarter. Gonzales could run on viral social media, ActBlue recurring donations, and organic digital reach that costs pennies per voter instead of dollars.
ActBlue data shows contributions averaging $36-45 across the platform, with 65.8% of donations coming through mobile devices. The system is optimized for small recurring donations—$20 monthly, $50 one-time—amounts that add up when tens of thousands of donors contribute. Laubacher proved this model works in Colorado right now, in 2025, producing $1.9 million in 54 days.
The timing creates additional pressure for Hickenlooper. Gonzales filed FEC paperwork December 8 but could run minimal fundraising through year-end. Her Q4 2025 report due January 31 would show low numbers, leaving Hickenlooper uncertain whether she poses a real threat. If she launches aggressive ActBlue campaigns in January, her Q1 2026 report due April 15 could show $2-3 million raised. The primary is June 30—just 2.5 months after that report drops.
Every dollar Hickenlooper spends defending the primary is a dollar unavailable for the general election. If he spends his entire $3.6 million war chest on the primary, he starts the general election broke at age 73, needing to raise $15-20 million in four months.
Colorado Newsline reported Republicans have not won a statewide race in Colorado since 2016. The two Republican Senate candidates, former state Rep. Janak Joshi and Marine Corps veteran George Markert, raised a combined $267,000—less than one-tenth of Hickenlooper’s war chest. The Democratic primary winner will be heavily favored in November.
That electoral math explains the September pressure campaign. Rork’s “absolute guarantee” that Gonzales couldn’t win wasn’t based on voter analysis—it was based on the establishment’s ability to financially starve challengers through donor pressure and consultant blacklisting.
ActBlue breaks that model. Small donors giving $20-50 repeatedly don’t respond to party operatives’ blacklist threats. They respond to social media, viral videos, and authentic progressive messaging. Laubacher raised $1.9 million in 54 days from 57,000 individual decisions to click “donate” on a phone.
The Denver Post reported Gonzales and her consultants described a “pattern of pressure” from Hickenlooper allies. Consultant Michael Orloff said of Rork’s offer: “We do not want to be part of this culture of consultants and insiders in the establishment who pick who’s going to be in primaries behind the scenes, and then go to Democratic voters and expect them to dutifully and loyally vote for the people who they already picked.”
Colorado Newsline reported Gonzales would be the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Colorado and the first Latina elected to any statewide office. She announced the race as “a defining moment for the future of the Democratic Party,” asking “What sort of party do we want to be? Do we want to send back John Hickenlooper, a go-along-to-get-along incrementalist, or do we want to send a proven legislator, with a track record of taking on corporate power?”
The Colorado Sun reported Hickenlooper has never lost an election in Colorado. He served as Denver mayor starting in 2003, Colorado governor from 2011 to 2019, and easily defeated primary challenger Andrew Romanoff in 2020 before beating Gardner in the general election with 53.5% of the vote.
But Hickenlooper’s 2020 primary victory came before ActBlue proved capable of raising millions for unknowns in weeks. Romanoff ran a traditional campaign in a traditional fundraising environment. Gonzales could run a 2026 digital campaign using a fundraising model that didn’t exist at scale in Colorado’s 2020 primary.
The financial pressure becomes psychological pressure. Every dollar Hickenlooper raises for the primary is defensive money protecting a seat he expected to hold easily. Every small-donor contribution to Gonzales through ActBlue represents a voter who actively chose her over the establishment.
Bennet’s “easy” 2022 race against O’Dea required $36 million total spending. Hickenlooper’s competitive 2020 race required $89 million total. The average cost to win a Senate seat in Colorado runs $20-40 million depending on competition level.
Hickenlooper has $3.6 million. The pressure campaign documents show party operatives understood that vulnerability in September. The math explains why: he literally cannot afford the fight she’s bringing.
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